American SuperHuman Authority
The American SuperHuman Authority (ASA) was the American successor of A.C.E, the World War II initiative which hired SuperHumans to fight for the Allied Forces. The ASA sought to establish a SuperHuman police force in a time when SuperHeroes were considered unlawful vigilantes; they employed SuperHuman operatives as field agents and devised some of the earliest methods of effectively incarcerating SuperVillains. While the ASA was well received during Commissioner Edward's tenure, over time their existence as a covert intelligence agency chafed against Congress' desire to be more open about what the government was doing about the rising percentage of SuperHumans in the United States. They were frequently pressured to go public, despite many of their SuperHuman operatives having been contracted on the condition of their public anonymity. The decision to shut the ASA down was finally made in 1970, after one of their lead operatives went rogue and founded the most feared SuperHuman criminal organization in history. Many of the ASA's operatives were transitioned over to the newly formed Civil SuperHuman Administration, which operated with more transparency in the hopes of avoiding another disaster. History After the signing of the Treaty for the Restriction of SuperHumans in a Militant Capacity, Major General Oscar Edwards, one of the main proponents of A.C.E., pressured Congress into transferring A.C.E.'s American members into an internal agency under his command. With federal approval Edwards retired from military service and became the founding Commissioner of the ASA, bringing with him many trusted officers such as Davis Lynch, Nicholas Hudson, and Simon Edwards. With Commissioner Edwards at the helm, the ASA created the first sizable government presence in the SuperHuman world. Using power suppressing technology derived from confiscated Nazi equipment, they were able to reliably capture and imprison SuperVillains, a feat which before had been nearly impossible to accomplish. Their SuperHuman operatives worked with local law enforcement rather than against them, creating a foundation of trust which would later allow organizations like the League of Salvation to thrive. The work of the ASA began to peel away the mystery and superstition which had surrounded SuperHumans for centuries. Over time it became apparent that the ghosts of the great war had followed the ASA home in the form of the Children of Equality, a Neo-Nazi terrorist organization founded by a remnant of the Übermenschliche Ausrottung Korps, A.C.E.'s Nazi adversary. The Children and the ASA continued the conflict of their predecessor agencies, dealing heavy blows to each other but ultimately never resolving their feud. When Commissioner Edwards stepped down in 1958, he was replaced by his longtime deputy Davis Lynch. Unlike Edward's idealistic views of legitimizing SuperHeroes as part of the justice system, Lynch subscribed to a more polarized viewpoint. He was less forgiving of SuperHuman vigilantes, and under his leadership the ASA began to crack down on SuperHeroes as well as Villains. This shift in policy brought about internal contention which lead SuperHuman ASA founder Mindforce to quit, forever breaking ties with the US Government. In 1963, Geoffrey Mitchell was appointed to the position of Commissioner. He attempted to bridge the ever widening gap between Commissioner Lynch and Mindforce's points of view, with mixed results - he was regarded as effective, but unlikable. It was during Commissioner Mitchell's tenure that Major General Edwards' grandson, Myster E, joined the ASA, quickly displaying his proficiency as a skilled black ops agent. Myster E would ultimately become the downfall of the ASA, when in 1970 he defected and joined European SuperVillain Doctor Danger. The two destroyed much of the ASA's headquarters and Bolling Air Force Base before going on to found the Coalition of Corruption. This public display of inefficiency, coupled with pressure from Congress, forced President Nixon to order an immediate shutdown of the ASA, and to establish a public replacement, the Civil SuperHuman Administration. Those operatives of the ASA who did not join the CSA were transferred to other bureaus or laid off, and the ASA's headquarters was rebuilt and used for storage. Organizational Structure The ASA was organized into four functional divisions and the Office of the Commissioner, which contained most of its administrative offices. An associate commissioner was appointed to manage each division; the Office of the Commissioner was overseen by the deputy commissioner, to whom each of the associate commissioners reported. *C.L.O.A.K. Division *D.A.G.G.E.R. Division *A.L.I.A.S. Division *S.U.I.T. Division Category:Government Category:Organizations